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howwoolatthemoon's review against another edition
4.5
This was very very good. Probably 4.25-4.5 ⭐ but not five?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
northernlitreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really didn’t think I’d like this book at first but wow, did that change. I know it’s fictional but what a believable story. It’s an amazing exploration of fried and people living their lives in a way that is out of the status quo and I just adored it. I really think people will be reading this in classrooms in the future. (I would also argue that if you want to get into reading classics but find them too slow or descriptive this would be a great place to start.) Also, just a moment to appreciate Bartholomew - bless him for being a good brother.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol
azyef's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Infidelity
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Colonisation
allywesto's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this so much.
The lovely prose, the holes in history filled in, the vivid characters… it’s amazing.
English majors will especially enjoy this.
It was so delightful. I’m still in awe and will be thinking about this book for a while. I loved the author’s note at the end about how her idea for writing this came about. Very clever and well done.
The lovely prose, the holes in history filled in, the vivid characters… it’s amazing.
English majors will especially enjoy this.
It was so delightful. I’m still in awe and will be thinking about this book for a while. I loved the author’s note at the end about how her idea for writing this came about. Very clever and well done.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
lkbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity and Misogyny
thebritishdoll's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual content
littlegretty's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This book is beautifully written and O'Farrell masterfully crafts a narrative that makes you fall in love with each character on its own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
tj440's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content
stephbakerbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm so glad I finally read this one!! It wasn't what I was expecting...but was somehow better than what I was expecting.
That being said, I don't think this book is for everyone. There's a lot of descriptive writing and "flowery" language, the plot moves very slowly, the omniscient POV bounces from person to person—if that's not your thing, you'll probably get annoyed and frustrated with this story. But I found myself captivated by the language and fully immersed into the setting the author was describing. From the beginning, you know where this story is going, you know what's going to happen, there are no surprises, and yet...you are right there with this family, on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how they react, what they will say, how they will feel. I don't know what it was about this book that grabbed me so. If I described the characters to you, none of them would be unique; maybe the most interesting thing about them is that the name William Shakespeare never appears in the story, as if, though he is the most famous person of his family, he takes a backseat here to the rest of them, so their emotions and actions can carry more weight. And yet, for the last half of this book, I couldn't put it down.
I'm not going to tell you to read it because, like I said above, I don't think it's for everyone. But if you're fascinated by the Shakespeare family, if you like being grabbed by a mysterious element in a book, if any of the above appealed to you, if you're also obsessed by this cover—don't hesitate to read this book.
That being said, I don't think this book is for everyone. There's a lot of descriptive writing and "flowery" language, the plot moves very slowly, the omniscient POV bounces from person to person—if that's not your thing, you'll probably get annoyed and frustrated with this story. But I found myself captivated by the language and fully immersed into the setting the author was describing. From the beginning, you know where this story is going, you know what's going to happen, there are no surprises, and yet...you are right there with this family, on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how they react, what they will say, how they will feel. I don't know what it was about this book that grabbed me so. If I described the characters to you, none of them would be unique; maybe the most interesting thing about them is that the name William Shakespeare never appears in the story, as if, though he is the most famous person of his family, he takes a backseat here to the rest of them, so their emotions and actions can carry more weight. And yet, for the last half of this book, I couldn't put it down.
I'm not going to tell you to read it because, like I said above, I don't think it's for everyone. But if you're fascinated by the Shakespeare family, if you like being grabbed by a mysterious element in a book, if any of the above appealed to you, if you're also obsessed by this cover—don't hesitate to read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content
a_robin_reads's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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Information:
Read an English physical copy from the library
switched over to the Dutch audiobook from Storytel
Buddy read this with Jovana
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Review:
Just okay for me.
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Review previously placed on my blog:
Review previously placed on my blog:
I'm currently reading Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. I'm reading a physical copy from the library for a buddy read. I'm reading this for a challenge video of reading outside my comfort zone with the topic historical fiction.
I'm not enjoying this so far. The writing is easier then I expected and pretty good. The story itself though is pretty boring to be honest. The "suspencefull" thing in the book was already mentioned on the back in the summary, so that suspence is already gone. The rest is just a little all over the place. Hope I will enjoy it more, but we shall see.
It became a bit better after the first part. There were just some things that really bothered me. For my full review: check out my youtube channel. 3 stars
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content